PHOTO GALLERY (5)

Red Rock Pickup: 1998 Chevy S-10

Regular-cab mini-pickups are great wheeling machines. The small wheelbase makes them great hillclimbers, the bed is perfect for hauling gear, and the single cab offers comfort, simplicity, and excellent visibility. While the rugged little truck platforms seem to be used more for parts-store runners than anything else, a few wheeling enthusiasts see the 4x potential of the light-duty pickups.

One such enthusiast is Tim Stevens, who transformed his '98 Chevy S-10 into an ultraclean trail-ready crawler. Starting with the factory ZR2 package, the road to wheeling perfection required a bit of fabrication skills and creative parts matching. Using the rugged Colorado backdrop as his testing grounds, Tim removed the weak links from his Chevy one part at a time. The result is a well-built S-10 that's tough enough for the trail but tame enough for the long drive home.

Powering the S-10 is a tried and true 4.3L. Since the V-6's power output is respectable from the factory, Tim chose to keep the engine mostly stock for long-term reliability.